Weekend games are over. Houston Dynamo 0 Orlando City SC 1 Chicago Fire 0 Whitecaps FC 1 Columbus Crew 2 Toronto FC 0 FC Dallas 3 Sporting KC 1 Real Salt Lake 3 Philadelphia Union 3 Sounders FC 2 SJ Earthquakes 3 New York City FC 2 NE Revolution 0 Portland Timbers 2 LA Galaxy 2
Watched my first-ever MLS match last nigh, Portland Timber LA Galaxy, was a good enough game to keep me watching. Quite interested in the Portland custom of chopping up a log every time they score, not seen that before.
Yankee Stadium looks awful on TV doesn't it? I've visited it before and it's certainly an impressive stadium but on TV it just looks like they're playing against a wall of adverts.
Stadiums built for baseball make for bad soccer venues, there's just no way around it. NYC FC plans a new stadium of their own but I don't think it is moving forward so they are stuck there for several years, unless they move into a local college football stadium, which is highly unlikely.
I thought there was a good atmosphere at the match I watched, not even sure where Portland is to be honest, if they can get good crowds at little known places then it might really take off. The pitch looked a bit odd, plastic or somesuch, don't agree with plastic pitches as the home team gets an advantage as they get used to the surface
I admit being a bit lazy and not checking my phone for more info as the match was going on, I knew it must be on the West side of the US though!
Now something to watch on a sunday night away from all the mainstream tosh. BBC ruined sunday night by taking Top Gear off the air. .
Rank Trending Club Comment 1 please log in to view this image Last: 4 please log in to view this image If you stay perfect, even though you haven't played perfect, and you're the only ones to remain perfect … then you're No. 1. Dallas have some stuff to figure out, but they keep collecting three points on the journey, so there you have it. Last Week: Won vs. Sporting KC, 3-1 This Week: Friday at Philadelphia (7 pm; UniMas, UnivisionDeportes.com) 2 please log in to view this image Last: 2 please log in to view this image Saw last year's trend of conceding late goals haunt them on Sunday but got bailed out even later by Alan Gordon (that's why he's here!). The Galaxy are still the Galaxy, folks. Last Week: Drew at Portland, 2-2 This Week: Saturday vs. Houston (10:30 pm; MLS LIVE) 3 please log in to view this image Last: 1 please log in to view this image This is why Pick 'Em is such a crapshoot. There's no justification for Seattle losing to a 10-man Quakes team that was on a 16-game winless skid. Incredible. Last Week: Lost vs. San Jose, 3-2 Next MLS Game: March 28 at Dallas (8:30 pm; MLS LIVE) 4 please log in to view this image Last: 5 please log in to view this image Gave better than they got before the red card and completely took a good Toronto team apart after it. Columbus look very much like Eastern Conference favorites. Last Week: Won vs. Toronto, 2-0 Next MLS Game: March 28 vs. New York (7:30 pm; MLS LIVE) 5 please log in to view this image Last: 3 please log in to view this image The Power Rankings Politburo feels your pain, my Red friends. Only thing to do is take heart from a good first 45 minutes and move on to the next one. Last Week: Lost at Columbus, 2-0 Next MLS Game: March 29 at Real Salt Lake (7 pm, FOX Sports, FOX Deportes, FOX Sports GO) 6 please log in to view this image Last:: 11 please log in to view this image Do we reward them for creating a billion chances or punish them for missing so many of them? Let's not fail to mention that the 'Caps gave up their share of looks as well. A road win is no joke, but Vancouver's got to tighten up that back line. Last Week: Won at Chicago, 1-0 This Week: Saturday at Orlando City (7:30 pm; MLS LIVE) 7 please log in to view this image Last: 8 please log in to view this image The only team aside from Dallas to stay perfect. Nice job. Last Week: OFF This Week: Sunday at New York (5 pm; ESPN2, ESPN Deportes, WatchESPN) 8 please log in to view this image Last: 6 please log in to view this image Gave 'em credit for the road point in Week 1, but we are feeling a bit skittish about this new-look RSL after Week 2. They're not using the ball as well so far in 2015, and it's putting more stress on the back line. Last Week: Drew vs. Philadelphia, 3-3 Next MLS Game: March 29 vs. Toronto (7 pm, FOX Sports, FOX Deportes, FOX Sports GO) 9 please log in to view this image Last: 14 please log in to view this image At some point, they'll score a goal all by themselves. But who are we to sneer at good fortune, comrades? OCSC have conceded just once in two games and deserve their time in the sun. Last Week: Won at Houston, 1-0 This Week: Saturday vs. Vancouver (7:30 pm; MLS LIVE) 10 please log in to view this image Last: 10 please log in to view this image Rest, relaxation and, maybe, a midfield reorganization? Got to figure out how to stay connected to BWP this week. Last Week: OFF This Week: Sunday vs. D.C. United (5 pm; FOX Sports 1, FOX Deportes, FOX Sports GO)
11 please log in to view this image Last: 16 please log in to view this image Looked like world-beaters against New England's tire fire of a back line. Is "The House that Villa Built" too precious to use as a headline? Last Week: Won vs. New England, 2-0 This Week: Saturday at Colorado (4 pm; MLS LIVE) 12 please log in to view this image Last: 12 please log in to view this image Porterball has given way to pragmatism, and Darlington Nagbe is putting the fear of God into defenders all over the league. Still nightmare-ish to give up that late equalizer at home, though. Last Week: Drew vs. LA Galaxy, 2-2 This Week: Saturday at Sporting KC (8:30 pm; MLS LIVE) 13 please log in to view this image Last: 18 please log in to view this image Shocking win not only for the result, but for how methodically they were able to pick Seattle apart even when down a man. Last Week: Won at Seattle, 3-2 This Week: Sunday vs. Chicago (7 pm, FOX Sports/FOX Deportes/FOX Sports GO) 14 please log in to view this image Last: 7 please log in to view this image A pretty precipitous drop for a team that had everything go against them (blown offside, missed PK, no Besler) on the road at a good team. But here's the truth: through two weeks, Sporting have been open for business defensively. They have to find a way to clamp down. Last Week: Lost at Dallas, 3-1 This Week: Saturday vs. Portland (8:30 pm; MLS LIVE) 15 please log in to view this image Last: 17 please log in to view this image For the second week in a row, they took one point when they should have had all three. Union fans are right to be angry, but in the meantime, Jim Curtin has to figure out how to get his central defense and central midfield more connected. Last Week: Drew at Real Salt Lake, 3-3 This Week: Friday vs. FC Dallas (7 pm; Unimas, UnivisionDeportes.com) 16 please log in to view this image Last: 9 please log in to view this image It's two games, so there's no need to panic just yet. But it's clear the Revs are missing both Jermaine Jones and A.J. Soares, and only one of those guys is due to return at some point. Last Week: Lost at NYCFC, 2-0 This Week: Saturday vs. Montreal (3 pm; MLS LIVE) 17 please log in to view this image Last: 13 please log in to view this image Hard to generate much going forward when you play a 4-6-0 for the majority of the game. At home. Against an expansion team. Okay, we'll stop. Last Week: Lost vs. Orlando City, 1-0 This Week: Saturday at LA (10:30 pm; MLS LIVE) 18 please log in to view this image Last: 15 please log in to view this image Fuzzy math here. Last Week: OFF This Week: Saturday at New England (3 pm; MLS LIVE) 19 please log in to view this image Last: 19 please log in to view this image Look to be on the verge of losing a guy who's scored double-digit goals in each of the last two years. That's the business - now we get to see how they'll cope. Last Week: OFF This Week: Saturday vs. New York City (4 pm; MLS LIVE) 20 please log in to view this image Last: 20 please log in to view this image Actually created a bunch of chances, but it always felt like they were going to lose that game. Maybe it should have been 4-2 instead of 1-0, but either way, it's more of the same for Fire fans. Last Week: Lost vs. Vancouver, 1-0 This Week: Sunday at San Jose (7 pm, FOX Sports, FOX Deportes, FOX Sports GO)
Week 3 schedule Friday, March 20 Philadelphia Union vs FC Dallas Saturday, March 21 NE Revolution vs Montreal Impact Colorado Rapids vs NYC FC Orlando SC vs Whitecaps FC Sporting KC vs Portland Timbers LA Galaxy vs Houston Dynamo Sunday, March 22 NY Red Bulls vs DC United SJ Earthquakes vs Chicago Fire I would think the best games to watch would probably be Sporting KC vs Portland Timbers and NY Red Bulls vs DC United although SJ Earthquakes vs Chicago Fire might be interesting to as its the first game in their new stadium.
As a former resident of Portland (fomerly Stumptown, a.k.a The Rose City)... Someone else has probably already said this, but Portland is in the NW USA, Oregon is the state north of California, and south of Washington. Portland is a great place to live, especially if you an outdoorsy type. It has a much more European feel to it than most US cities. The metro area, including adjacent cities like Vancouver and Hillsboro was just over 2.2M in the 2010 census. The stadium used to be one of those nasty baseball-used-for-football abortions. But the football team managed to kick the baseball team out (such was the relative popularity) and build new stands over what used to be the baseball outfield. The log-cutting is of course related to the Timbers name. The team used to be owned by the Louisiana-Pacfic logging company and the PNW is heavily forested. They used to have a mascot / cheerleader / whatever, Timber Jim, who started it. The sawn off log segment gets presented to the scorer at the end of the match, at least it used to. Amongst other things that Timber Jim would get up to was climbing to the top of a telegraph pole that used to be at the north end of the stadium and cajoling the fans with his chainsaw from atop that. When his daughter was killed in a car crash, the Timbers supporter adopted "You Are My Sunshine" as one their songs in her memory.
... and is a pretty accurate take on what it's like. Other stuff filmed there includes Grimm and the Twighlight movies. Also Matt Groening of the Simpsons lives (lived?) there, A lot of the names used (like Homer, Flanders, Simpson) are street names from the area that he lived in. And there's a town called Springfield a few miles south down I5.
